


Life's Echoes

by aeriamamaduck



Category: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Genre: Childhood Trauma, Cooking, Dysfunctional Relationships, Emotionally Repressed, Loss of Parent(s), Mother-Daughter Relationship, Parent-Child Relationship, Past Child Abuse, Pre-Canon, Unresolved Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 21:05:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7986190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeriamamaduck/pseuds/aeriamamaduck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Petronella Saturnius had never been able to speak frankly with her daughter, who sometimes reminded her of the past she wanted to forget.</p><p> </p><p> Set two years before the events of <i>Oblivion.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Life's Echoes

There were moments when Petra looked at her daughter and remembered.

Years of trying to forget, to pretend that life had started in the orphanage where she’d met Gaius, made futile by the sight of Minerva, her smiles so like those of Petra’s mother.

Minerva was helping her chop carrots for their dinner, her cuts swift and careful. Petra exhaled sharply, her mind going back to the time when she would peer over a tabletop to watch her mother cutting vegetables, pausing to look in on a baby boy who slept nearby.

Petra tore herself away from the memory, concentrating on what she was doing. Those memories were of no use, belonging to some other person with no relation to her. She was not that little girl who cried for her mother and father, curling into a ball when someone’s fist slammed into her face. No, she was someone else, beyond that weakness now.

Minerva tossed her hair back in a quick movement.

_Her fingers are long, like mine._

**_Like my father’s._ **

_Her neck is so long._

**_Like my father’s._ **

_She won’t stop smiling when she cooks._

**_My mother was just the same._ **

“Mother, are you alright?” Minerva was looking at her, no longer cutting, frowning in confusion.

Petra swallowed and looked down, unable to meet her daughter’s gaze. When had she ever been able to? “It’s nothing. Do you still plan on taking some stew to Helvedur and his wife?”

Minerva was intelligent enough to know when the subject was being changed, and not to bring it up again. “…Yes. Their boys like this stew, it’s their favorite.”

Nodding silently, Petra could feel Minerva smiling at the mention of the boys. Such smiles never came easy to Petra, and she wondered just what it was that made Minerva so different, so open and ready to smile. No matter how strict Petra and Gaius were in their training, Minerva’s childhood had been heavenly compared to theirs, and perhaps that had made the difference.

Petra glanced at Minerva, who got to her feet and put the cooking pot full of water to boil. She was only sixteen, but capable of taking care of herself if the need arose. Petra was glad for that and knew it relieved Gaius. Funny as it sounded, Gaius often thought they were being _too_ soft on Minerva, but it was obvious that hadn’t been the case. Minerva was so strong, it was remarkable.

Words of pride caught in Petra’s throat, and perhaps they always would. She sighed softly and kept working, not wanting to think about how her words would’ve been taken or about a past best left forgotten.


End file.
